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Coffee Taster's Flavor Wheel
Used by the Specialty Coffee Association of America
There are many things that go into coffee cupping and evaluating coffee characteristics. The method consists of six steps that we will explain in abbreviated form:
- Fragrance. This is done by sniffing the freshly roasted and ground coffee. The character of the fragrance indicates the nature of the taste: sweet scents lead to acidy tastes, and pungent scents lead to sharp tastes. The intensity of the fragrance reveals the freshness of the sample.
- Aroma. After pouring the correct temperature of pure water over the correct measurement of coffee and steeping for approximately three minutes, it is sniffed for the aromatic character. The coffee wheel above aids in the determination of aromatic character. This takes experience and an acute sense of smell.
- Taste. The coffee is slurped into the mouth with brisk aspiration which spreads the fluid over the entire surface of the tongue so that all of the sensory nerve endings simultaneously respond to the sweet, salt, sour and bitter sensations. Since temperature affects the sweetness of sugars, it is held in the mouth for three to five seconds to ascertain the primary and secondary taste characteristics. The coffee wheel above aids in this determination.
- Nose. This is done at the same time as taste.
- Aftertaste. This takes some experience to swallow a small amount after holding in the back of the mouth and then forcing into the nasal cavity the lingering vapors.
- Body. The coffee fluid is probed, tongue sensation is evaluated for oilness, thickness, etc. Together, the oiliness and depth determine the brew's body.
The coffee brew is allowed to cool and steps 1-5 are repeated. Coffee is usually compared side-by-side (at least two samples) to test for uniformity or likeness. In testing for uniformity, three or four cups from the same sample would be cupped. For likeness, one or more cups from the sample would be cupped against a standard sample.
This is only an overview of the cupping process. Every level of the cupping follows a specific protocal. Cupping competitions are done in a way to eliminate any knowledge of the coffee samples by the judges. Judges are usually from as many of the different countries as are coffees entered.
Most cupping competitions use the Specialty Coffee Association of America's standard Coffee Cupping Form. The SCAA has annual conventions which offer comparative coffee cupping classes. They are also a source for training kits and other education material regarding coffee.